Montague soccer ends historic season with regional semifinal loss to Traverse City St. Francis

BIG RAPIDS — A season-ending 4-0 defeat to No. 10-ranked Traverse City St. Francis in Wednesday's regional semifinals will do very little to dampen the spirit of Montague's historic 2025 district title season.

"It's heartbreaking, but like I told the team, we don't choose to be sad that it's over. We choose to be happy that it happened," Montague coach Chris Aebig said. "What an incredible journey."

Montague displayed no signs of a letdown Wednesday night, playing the Gladiators to a draw for the first 54 minutes of the game and creating as many scoring opportunities as they conceded in that time. Less than five minutes after kickoff, senior Ava Pelton was in position for what would have been a dramatic opening goal, but St. Francis keeper Paisleigh Upshaw made an aggressive play to get the ball before Pelton could wind up for the shot.

There were other chances too, as the Wildcats were able to get Pelton and Lilly Rice free for good looks, but Upshaw was equal to the task each time. St. Francis, for its part, also came close to scoring a few times in the first half, hitting the crossbar in the final minutes before the break and forcing keeper Addison Pranger to make some solid saves in her own right.

"I think we held up a very great defense," Wildcats' freshman defender Callie Peterson said of the first half. "We had lots of communication, switching, being able to help each other out. I think we held them off very well in the first half."

The Gladiators broke through with 25:34 to play off a corner kick, that most dangerous of plays for a defense. Lilianna David launched a well-placed boot to the center of the box, and teammate Madelyn Simerson fielded it and put it in the goal.

With that score, Montague was forced to play with more abandon to try to get an equalizer, and St. Francis took advantage, quickly adding two more goals and pushing across a fourth in the late minutes.

"They went out early, scouted us and attacked where we weren't as strong," said Wildcat freshman Marguerite O'Connell.

True to the Wildcats' spirit, though, they kept attacking, and only the left post deflecting a late shot prevented Montague from ending its season with one final goal. Aebig said he was pleased with his team's effort.

"These guys really battled hard in the trenches for us," Aebig said. "I don't know how many times Marguerite laid her body on the line and blocked plays down there. I'm thinking she's going to be hurt and she bounces right back up and goes after it again."

The game marked the end for 11 Wildcat seniors who built Montague into a championship program. Among them are two - Pranger and Adilynn Peterson - whom the two freshman defenders especially look up to, Pranger because she directed the defense all season, and Peterson because she is Callie's older sister.

"Just watching how much she cares and how much effort she puts in pushes me to keep going," Peterson said of her sister. "There's many times where I feel defeated, and I just want to sit there and watch, but she will fight to the last minute."

"It'll definitely be different next year (with a new keeper)," O'Connell added. "I don't know who's exactly going to be in that position next year, but I know that we'll still try to bring this intensity next year."

As Montague finally puts, as Aebig put it, "a number on the wall" with the addition of 2025 to the girls soccer banner in the Wildcats' gym, they'll celebrate what happened this spring with hopes of building on it.

"The foundation that they have set for us is going to lead to a ton of success in the future," Aebig said of his seniors. "They battled hard all season. Out of anybody we played all year long, all of our 20 or whatever games we played, we are the team that made it the deepest...Not one opponent, whether it was a win or a loss, made it to June 4. (These) guys did.

"These guys are our future and the future's bright."